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16—47372-3 GPO 



6gD Congress, I SENATE. JDocument 

'Bd Session. \ I No. 329. 



HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSION- 
ERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GIVING CERTAIN INFOR- 
MATION ASKED BY THE SENATE IN REGARD TO HIGH- SCHOOL 
FACILITIES AND NEEDS. 



December 16, 1913.— Eeferred to the Committee on the District of Columbia and 

ordered to be printed. 



Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 

^yas^lington, December 13, 1913. 
Hon. Thomas R. Marshall, 

President of the United States Senate. 

Sir: The Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia 
have the honor to reply herewith to the following resolution of the 
Senate of the United States of November 3, 1913: 

In the Senate of the United States, 

November 3, 1913. 

Resolved. That the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia be requested 
to report to the Senate whether, in its judgment, it is advisable to expend an avail- 
able appropriation of §1,200,000 in the erection of a Central High School at the cor- 
ner of Eleventh and Clifton Streets Northwest, as authorized by the Sixty-second 
Congress, on recommendation of the former Board of Commissioners, or whether this 
appropriation should be divided and applied to the erection of two or more higl^ 
schools, one of which shall be located in the eastern section or in the southwest sec- 
tion of the city. 

Further, that the board be requested to furnish the Senate information in reply to 
the following questions: 

Is the site at the corner of Eleventh and Clifton Streets centrally located as regards 
the population? 

W hat is the high-school population of the various sections of the city of Washington? 

What is the location of existing high schools and normal schools in the city of Wash- 
ington? 

What is the status of the present Central High School project? 

Did the original Central High School estimates call for an appropriation of only 
$700,000 for a building to accommodate 1,600 pupils; and if so, why was the estimate 
increased? 

In the opinion of the present board of commissioners are tlie present high-school 
facilities inadequate, and in what respects? 

Is a large centralized high school preferable to smaller and widely distributed high 
schools? 

If the information is readily available, give a complete inventory of school property 
in the four sections of the city, showing the number of public, manual-training, high, 
md normal schools, their valuation, and the combined area of ground occupied for 
school purposes in each section of the city; 

Attest: 

James M. Baker, Secretary. 



2 HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Keplviug to the first request of the above resolution, fii the judg- 
ment of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Cohnnbia it 
is not advisable (o expend all of the available appropriation in the 
erection of a new central hioh school at the corner of Eleventh and 
Clifton Streets KW., but that $725,000 thereof be ex])ended for the 
construction of a new centi-al high school on the site ol)tained for 
that purpose at Eleventh and Clifton Streets NW., the building- to be 
in conformity with the recommendations and estimates originally 
made by the board of education and tlie District Commissioners, and 
that the balance of the appropriation be applied for the acquisition of 
a site for a new high school in the eastern section of the District, for 
the preparation of plans for such high school, aud for beginning the 
construction of such high school. 

The second inquiry was as follows: 

Is the site at the corner of Eleventh and Clihon Streets central'.y located as rei^ards 
the population? 

The center of population of the District of Columbia, according to 
the Federal census of 1910, is 111 feet east of the center line of Fifth 
Street NW. and 159 feet south of the center Ime of K Street NW., or, 
ajpproxmiately, 927 Fifth Street NW. Accordhig to a report from 
the surveyor of the District of Columbia, the site of the proposed new 
central high school, at the corner of Eleventh and Clifton Streets, is 
9,600 feet from the center of population. 

The third inquiry in the resolution was as follows: 

What is the high-school population of the various sections of the city of ^^'aslliu^;to,n? 

According to mformation furnished by the secretary of the board 
of education, the high-school population (the place of residence of the 
high-school pupils) of the various sections of the city is as follows: 





Section. 


Number 
white 
pupils. 


Number 
colored 
pupils. 


Total. 






2, 590 


1,018 
194 
121 
122 


3,fiOS 






875 


1,069 






171 


292 


Southeast 




438 


560 










Total. ... . 


4. 074 


1,455 


5,529 







The fourth inquiry of the resolution was : 

What is the location of existing high schools and normal schools in the city of 
Washington? 

The high schools and normal schools in the city of Washington are 
located as follows : 

Eastern High School, Seventh and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. 

Central High School, O Street, between Sixth and Seventh 
Streets NW. 

Western High School, Thirty fifth and R Streets NW. (George- 
town) . 

M Street High School (colored), M Street, between First Street and 
New Jersey Avenue NW. 

Business High School, Eighth Street and Rhode Island Avenue N W. 

n. OF 0, 

.DEC" YJ -m 



HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 6 

^^IcKinley Manual Training School (white), Seventh Street and 
^ Rhode Island Avenue NW. 

Armstrong ]^lanual Training School (colored), P Street, hetween 
First and Third Streets NW. 

Rormal School (for white students), Eleventh and Harvard 

Streets NW. , ^ ^^ 

Normal School (for colored students), Seventeenth and M 

Streets NW. 

The fifth inquiry of the resolution was as follows : 

What is the status of tlie present central higli school project? 

Under authority of the District appropriation act for the fiscal year 
1912, approved March 2, 1911, the Commissioners of the District of 
Columbia purchased the site at the corner of Eleventh and Clifton 
Streets NW., for the proposed new central high school, at a cost 
of $2.34,426.51, from an appropriation of $250,000; title to' this site 
now hes with the District of Columbia, 

The District appropriation act for the fiscal year 1913 authorized 
the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to use the balance of 
the a])propriati()n for the purchase of a site for the new central high 
sclioc>r and the purchase of a site for a new M Street high school; 
for the employment of architectural services in the preparation of 
plans and specifications for the said high schools. Under that 
authority the commissioners employed Mr. W. B. Ittner, of St. 
Louis, to make plans and specifications for a new central high school. 
These plans and specifications, costing $22,500, have been received 
by the commissioners. The District appropriation act for the year 
1914 authorized the construction of a new central high school, to 
cost $1,200,000, and made an appropriation of $300,000 to begin its 
construction. Using the plans and specifications prepared by Mr. 
Ittner, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are advertising 
for bids for the construction of the high school at a cost not to exceed 
$1,200,000. Bids will be opened at the District Building on Decem- 
ber 15. 

The sixth inquiry of the resolution was as follows : 

Did the original central high school estimates call for an appropnation of only 
$700,000 for a building to accommodate 1,000 pupils; and, if so, why was the estimate 
increased? 

The board of eduation of the District of Columbia, in its estiniates 
to the District Commissioners for the fiscal year 1913, included an item 
of $725,000 for the proposed new central high school, to accommo- 
date 1,600 pupils. This estimate was transmitted to Congi-ess by the 
District Commissioners, and, so far as can be learned from reference 
to the records of the Appropriations Committee of the House of 
Representatives and the Appropriations Committee of the Senate, 
no supplemental estimate recommending a building to cost $1,200,000, 
and to accommodate 2,500 pupils, was ever made. The hearings on 
the District of Columbia appropriation biU for the fiscal year 1913, 
conducted by a subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee of 
the House of Representatives, indicate that the recommendation of 
the board of education and the Commissit)ners of the District of 
Columbia was for a building to cost $725,000 and to accommodate 
1 ,600 pupils. 



4 HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA, 

The estimates of the board of education and of the District Com- 
missioners for a })uil(hng to cost $725,000, and to acconimodnte 1,600 
pupils, were not apjiroved by the subcommittee of the Appropriations 
Committee, and the Listrict appropriation bill for the fiscal year 
1913, when reported to the House of Representatives for passage, 
did not contain any authorization or appropriation for the construc- 
tion of a new central high school. 

The hearings before the subcommittee of the Committee on Appro- 
priations of the Senate on the District of Columbia appropriation 
bill for 1913 sliow^ that the District commissioners recommended 
to the Senate Appropriations Committee the mclusion in the Dis- 
trict bill, as a Senate amendment, authorization for a new central 
high school to cost $725,000 and to accommodate 1,600 pupils. 

The Senate hearings on the District appropriation bill for the 
fiscal year 1913 do not indicate that any estmiate or recommenda- 
tion by the board of education or the District commissioners was 
made for a new central high school to cost more than $725,000 
and to accommodate more than 1,600 pupils. 

The appro])riation bill for the fiscal year 1913, as reported to the 
Senate by the Appropriations Conmiittee and passed by the Senate, 
contained authorization for a new^ central high school to cost $725,000, 
and made an appropriation of $250,000 available for that purpose. 
The Senate Appro])riations Committee also i-eported, and the Sen- 
ate also adopted, the following amendment: 

The Commissioners of the District of Cohimbia are liereby autliorized to use so 
much as may be necessary of any unexpended balances remainino- in the appropria- 
tions for the purchase of a site foi a new ('entral High Scliool, and for the purchase 
of a site for a new M Street Hisrh Scliool, contained in the District appropriation act 
for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and twelve, approved March second, nineteen 
hundred and eleven, for the employment of architectural services in the prepara- 
tion of plans and specifications for said hisrh schools, and for such otlier per«;onal serv- 
ices and expenses in connection therewith as may be necessary. 

In conference, the Senate amendment, authorizing a new central 
high school to cost $725,000, and making an appropriation of $250,000 
toward the buildmg, was stricken out. 

The amendment concerning the balances of appropriations for 
sites was retained, and the following proviso was added to it by the 
conferees : 

Provided, That the ])lans for the now central high school shall i)ro\-ide accommoda- 
tif>ns for not less than 2,500 pupils. 

This is the first j^oint in the records of the Appropriations Com- 
mittees of Congress in which there is any reference to a central high 
schcol of a capacity of 2,500 pupils. This evidence of the intention 
of Congress to provide a central high school much larger in capacity 
and much more costly in price than recommended in the estimates of 
the board of education and the District commissioners was the basis 
upon which, in the District appropriation act for the fiscal year 1914, 
there was provided authorization for a building to cost $1,200,000 and 
an appropriation of $300,000 toward such a building. There does 
not appear in any of the records of the Appropriations C^ommittee any 
statement showing why the estimates of the board cf echicuti n and 
the District commissioners were increased. 

The seventh inquiiy of the resolution was as follo-\\s: 

In the opinion of the present board of commissioners, are the present high-school 
facilities inadequate, and in what respects? 



HIGH SCHOOLS OP THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 5 

In the judgment of the Board of Commissioners of the District of 
Columbia, the present high-school facilities of Washington are inade- 
quate, chiefly because of their location. The Central High School, 
the Western High School, the Business High School, the McKinley 
Manual Training School, the Armstrong Manual Training School 
(for colored students), and the M Street High School (for colored 
students), are all in the northwest section of the city. Only one high 
school, the Eastern High School, is in the eastern or southwestern 
section of the city. A new high school in the eastern section of the 
city is needed. A new central high school is needed, but in the 
judgment of the commissioners a central high school to accommodate 
2,500 pupils is not needed at present. Future demands might justify 
a new central high school to accommodate 2,500 pupils, but they are 
not as pressing as the immediate demands of the eastern section. 

The eighth inquiry of the resolution was as follows: 

la a large centralized high school preferable to smaller and widely distributed high 
schools? 

In the opinion of 'the board of commissioners smaller and more 
widely distributed high schools are preferable to a large centralized 
high school, provided they are not too small for economic administra- 
tion. The chief element which influenced the commissioners to 
arrive at this conclusion was the element of transportation, which the 
children of high-school age would have to pay if forced to travel from 
their own to another section of the city in which the large centrahzed 
school might be located. 

The ninth inquiry of the resomtion was as follows: 

If the information is readily available, give a complete inventory of school prop- 
erty in the four sections of the city, showing the number of public, manual training, 
high, and normal schools, their valuation, and the combined area of ground occupied 
for school purposes in each section of the city. 

It is impossible to give a complete inventory of school property in 
the four sections of the city. The approximate cost of the buildings, 
however, is known and given herewith: 

There are 99 public, manual training, high, and normal schools in 

the city of Washington, whose valuation, location, and area of ground 

occupied for school purposes in each section of the city is as follows : 

Northwest, 55 schools; cost, $3,105,365; area of ground occupied 

for school purposes, 1,104,136 square feet. 

Southwest, 14 schools; cost, $495,996; area of ground occupied 
for school purposes, 270,225 square feet. 

Southeast, 15 schools; cost, $544,019; area of ground occupied 
for school purposes, 296,919 square feet. 

Northeast, 15 schools; cost, $521,912; area of ground occupied 
for school purposes, 267,411 square feet. 
Very respectfully, 

Board of Commissioners of the 

District of Columbia, 
By O. P. Newman, President. 

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